Weathering the season

It’s a question you only face when it comes to spring sports.

What do you do when the high school season opens weeks earlier than golf courses?

“Good question,” first-year West Valley girls coach Dave Marlow said. “We’ve been using the driving range at Trail Head at Liberty Lake a lot. But East Valley and Central Valley have both been using that, too. There have been times when I’ve had to put three girls to a mat in order to keep them working on their swings.”

It’s one thing to have the state’s governing body, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, announce that the golf season will begin Feb. 27. It’s another to actually be able to play golf somewhere other than on a video game.

West Valley has a long-standing relationship with Hangman Valley Golf Course, its home course. Bad weather, like cold temperatures combined with rain and snow, meant that the course was not open for play until the middle of last week.

“We’ve only been on the course once so far this season,” Marlow said Wednesday. “Even then, it’s not easy getting everyone out on the course. By the time we get everyone out on the course, the girls have time to play about three holes before we have to quit and come back.”

There’s no danger of the area’s golf courses not being ready for the postseason, however.

This year’s state tournaments will be on familiar ground. The Class 4A boys tournament will be at Qualchan, the girls at Hangman Valley. Class 3A boys will be at Indian Canyon while the girls play at MeadowWood. Both Class 2A tournaments will be at Downriver. Class 1A/B boys will compete at Liberty Lake; 1A/B girls at Esmeralda.

“We were really hoping that the girls would be playing at MeadowWood.” Central Valley girls coach Rick Giampietri said. “We were going to play there when they first announced the state tournament sites, but then they switched us to Indian Canyon.”

Giampietri’s Bears play their home matches at Meadowwood.

The continuing trend in the Spokane Valley this golf season is, well, football. Three of the four head football coaches in the Valley double as golf coaches. Giampietri, who is an assistant wrestling coach over the winter, is the Central Valley girls coach in addition to football duties in the fall. University football coach Mike Ganey takes over this year as the girls golf coach and one of his football assistants, Joe Turman, begins his first season as boys golf coach. West Valley’s Craig Whitney doubles as boys golf coach.

Central Valley Bears

Boys: The Bears return defending state Class 4A champion Nick Grigsby and state tournament veteran Pat Norton, both seniors.

Grigsby shot a six-under-par 66 on the first day and even par on the final day to finish with a 138 at Indian Canyon Golf course and a one-stroke victory over Chris Cho of Kentridge, Kyle Stanley of Bellarmine and Jason Moore of Rogers-Puyallup.

On the par 5 final hole, Grigsby hit a clutch 4-iron to within 8 feet of the cup to set up a birdie 4 and avoid a playoff.

Winning the Greater Spokane League title will be just as difficult a battle this season.

Grigsby will battle Clarkston’s Joel Dahmen, who shot a 36-hole 140 to finish second by a stroke in the Class 3A state tournament last year. The pair battled throughout the season a year ago before going their separate ways in postseason.

In the first GSL tournament of the season, Dahmen shot a 72 to Grigsby’s 73 at Clarkston to earn medalist honors.

Sophomore Joey Thola, son of Molly Thola, the pro at Trail Head at Liberty Lake, should help the varsity, which finished fourth as a team in the first GSL tournament

Girls: Nikki Barham wants to go 4-for-4. The senior golfer has qualified for the state tournament in each of her first three seasons at Central Valley.

“This year Nikki is getting a nice push from Katie Sorenson, who actually finished ahead of Nikki by a stroke down at Clarkston in our first tournament,” girls coach Rick Giampietri said. “Katie finished third and Nikki fourth in the first tournament. They’re both looking good for this early.”

Seniors Ashley Kurpgeweit, Salena Leavitt and Marquie Harper and juniors Bridget Reilly, Jessica Danielson and Megan Solberg will round out the starting lineup.

East Valley Knights

Boys: The Knights finished in the middle of the pack in the first GSL tournament, posting a team score of 429 to finish eighth, seven strokes behind Gonzaga Prep and three ahead of Shadle Park.

Seniors Spencer Tuttle and Josh White and junior Travis Greene lead a young squad with plenty of upward potential.

White was a consistent leader a year ago and Tuttle begins his third year on the East Valley varsity.

Girls: Junior Ashley Saffle is one of the top returning golfers in the GSL and after shooting a two-day 170 at last year’s state Class 3A tournament, it’s her second state appearance. As a freshman she carded a first-round 88 and did not qualify for Day Two.

Saffle shot an 83 to finish tied for seventh in the first GSL tournament at Clarkston, seven shots behind medalists Molly Fuhs of Lewis and Clark and Lauren Howell of Mead, who each carded 76.

University Titans

Boys: The Titans finished fifth, two shots behind Central Valley, in the season opener.

First-year coach Joe Turman figures freshman Hank Frame and junior Wes Millard will be his No. 1 and No. 2 golfer, respectively, but it was junior Matt Mathison’s 76 that led the way Monday in Clarkston.

Millard begins his third season on the U-High varsity.

Dan Bennett and Mike Pierce provide senior leadership.

Girls: The Titan girls finished second as a team in last year’s Class 4A tournament on the strength of a pair of Top 10 finishes.

Mandy and Haley Parsons, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, now play golf at Washington State University.

“We’re going to be pretty young,” Ganey said. “Katie Dowling (a senior) and Christine Whitaker (a junior) will be our leaders, but beyond that we’re really young.”

West Valley Eagles

Boys: Senior Tyler Hobbs currently is head and shoulders above his teammates. At 6-foot-7, he’s head and shoulders above most people.

“He’s out here banging away and having a good time,” Whitney said. “He’s headed to the University of Montana and he just got done with a tough basketball season and a state tournament and still was out here for the first day of practice.”

A year ago it was finding golf shoes to fit Hobbs’ size 17 feet that was the biggest problem of the spring.

This year it’s about fine-tuning his golf game.

“When Tyler really gets into one, he can easily hit the ball 300 yards,” Whitney said. “We’re working with him now on dialing it back a little and controlling where it lands.”

Senior Justin Gonzalez and juniors Brad Roth and Greg Thompson will lead the Eagles varsity, with sophomores C.J. Hansen and Nick Seaman and freshmen Brandon Dituri and Tanner Braun challenging for spots.

Girls: Four-year standout Ashley Weiber graduated, leaving behind a young squad.

Seniors Kim and Sara Connors will lead the team along with juniors Katie Matthews and Tahnee Kruger.

“Beyond them we’re sophomores and freshmen,” Marlow said. “Most of our players are just learning the game so we’re concentrating on building a good swing and taking it from there.”